Diane Abbott says constituency kids are better behaved than Tories

Written by James Millar on 20 December 2018 in Diary

Diary

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Teachers everywhere may be struggling to maintain control of their classrooms as Christmas excitement builds among their charges but Diane Abbott reckons even kids high on festive party food are better behaved than the Tories.

The Labour frontbencher accused the Conservatives of orchestrating a 'mini-riot' over Jeremy Corbyn's alleged sexist remarks in an effort to deflect attention from their own woes. She claimed primary school kids in her Hackney constituency were better behaved than the Tory benches, even taking into account end of term excitement.

Instead of spontaneous outrage after the Labour leader appeared to mouth the words 'stupid woman' at the end of Prime Minister's Questions Abbott claimed Tory MPs put on a display of "contrived, staged behaviour".

Her comments echo those made by Labour grandee Dame Margaret Beckett in the Commons chamber yesterday as MPs lined up to criticise Corbyn and Speaker John Bercow over the row. Eventually the Labour leader returned to the Commons to explain that he'd said "stupid people" in reference to Conservative MPs joining in with a pantomime style attack led by Theresa May.

Asked on the BBC Today programme whether Corbyn is in fact sexist, Abbott, who is rumoured to have had a romantic relationship with Corbyn in the late 1970s, retorted, "Let's get on to something serious."